Upcoming Events:

September 201317

The Department of Modern Languages presents "Berlin 1885: The Division of Africa"

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Full Description: The Department of Modern Languages presents "Berlin 1885: The Division of Africa." Exposing one of the most ignominious—and little-studied—events of the past 130 years, Joël Calmettes’s exemplary documentary chronicles the Berlin Conference on Africa. At this meeting, held at Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s official residence in Berlin, the major European countries and the US divided up the vast continent for their own personal gain without the presence of a single African; proceedings which set in motion the ruinous colonization of Africa that would irrevocably and disastrously change the fate of that land. Free and open to the public.

September 201324

Full Description: The Department of Modern Languages presents "Le Bonheur D'Elza."The wondrous, highly personal directorial debut of Mariette Monpierre is the searing yet inspiring tale of Elza, a talented university graduate who breaks her mother’s heart when, motivated by a desire to seek out her father whom she barely remembers, she decides to leave their Paris apartment to return to her birthplace of Guadeloupe. Posing as a baby-sitter for her unsuspecting father’s six-year-old granddaughter, she confronts ugly truths about a past she is just beginning to understand. Discussion with director Mariette Monpierre. Free and open to the public.

October 201308

Full Description: The Department of Modern Languages welcomes Cuban cartoonist Gustavo Rodriguez. Gustavo Rodríguez is a Cuban cartoonist who has lived in Miami since 2005. He has worked as a freelancer and for several magazines, newspapers and online publications. He has also worked as book illustrator, editor, cartoon script writer and graphic designer for over 25 years. He graduated in Geography Science at the University of Havana in 1991. Free and open to the public.

Full Description: The Department of Modern Languages presents "The Rabbi's Cat." Wryly philosophical, beautifully drawn, and meticulously detailed, this animated film based on co-director Joann Sfar's popular comic-book series takes place during the '20s and'30s in Algiers, where said cat is preparing for his bar mitzvah. Having previously devoured his master’s parrot, the remarkable, if hairless and giant-eared, feline at the center of the film now has the power of speech, which he uses, as a devout soul should, to constantly question and probe his faith during his and his master’s voyage to Ethiopia. Free and open to the public.

October 201310

The Department of Modern Languages welcomes John Davidson presenting "Reel Utopias: Remaking and Replacing the German Homeland Film."

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Full Description: The Department of Modern Languages welcomes John Davidson, professor of German and cinema at the Ohio State University, presenting "Reel Utopias: Remaking and Replacing the German Homeland Film." Free and open to the public.

October 201322

The Department of Modern Languages welcomes Hans Rindisbacher presenting "The Smell of Books."

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Full Description: Hans Rindisbacher, professor of German at Pomona College, will present a lecture on xenophobia in Switzerland. Rindisbacher was awarded the MLA book prize for his book "The Smell of Books: A Cultural-Historical Study of Olfactory Perception in Literature," a quite fascinating read. He has since published numerous articles and book chapters on olfactory phenomena in literature and cultural studies. Rindisbacher speaks as eloquently as he writes, both in German and in English. Free and open to the public.

February 201412

Full Description: The Department of Modern Languages welcomes Laura Kriska '87 presenting "How to Communicate Effectively Across Cultural Boundaries." Kriska is the author of "The Accidental Office Lady," a nonfiction account of her experience as the first American woman to work in the Tokyo Headquarters of Honda. Free and open to the public.

Full Description: The Department of Modern Languages welcomes Laura Kriska '87 presenting "How to Communicate Effectively Across Cultural Boundaries." Kriska is the author of "The Accidental Office Lady," a nonfiction account of her experience as the first American woman to work in the Tokyo Headquarters of Honda. Free and open to the public.

March 201407

Full Description: "El secreto a voces," written by master Spanish playwright Calderón de la Barca (1600s), and presented in a courtly setting is a marvelous comedia that poses questions still relevant to contemporary audiences, How can we use language if, every time we speak, the words get in the way? What good are secret words of love if language betrays? What good is it to be sincere if sincerity cannot be affirmed? The play is performed by theatre graduates of the University of Murcia, Spain, who are touring the U.S. Performed in Spanish. Free and open to the public.

Full Description: "El secreto a voces," written by master Spanish playwright Calderón de la Barca (1600s), and presented in a courtly setting is a marvelous comedia that poses questions still relevant to contemporary audiences, How can we use language if, every time we speak, the words get in the way? What good are secret words of love if language betrays? What good is it to be sincere if sincerity cannot be affirmed? The play is performed by theatre graduates of the University of Murcia, Spain, who are touring the U.S. Performed in Spanish. Free and open to the public.

October 201409

The Latin American Film Festival presents a screening of "Pelo Malo" ("Pelo Malo").

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Full Description: The Latin American Film Festival presents a screening of the award-winning "Pelo Malo" (2103). Junior is nine years old and has stubbornly curly hair, or "bad hair." He wants to have it straightened for his yearbook picture, like a fashionable pop singer with long, ironed hair. This puts him at odds with his mother Marta. The more Junior tries to look beautiful and make his mother love him, the more she rejects him. He will find himself cornered, facing a painful decision.

November 201401

What William Shakespeare is to England, Lope de Vega is to Spain, The play “Entre Marta y Lope” depicts the end of Lope’s life with his beloved Marta de Nevares.

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Full Description: What William Shakespeare is to England, Lope de Vega is to Spain. The 17th century playwright led a colorful life of court intrigue, with multiple romantic entanglements, and he was deeply admired by Miguel de Cervantes, of Don Quixote fame. His prodigious output of literally thousands of plays, sonnets and poems earned him the nickname “Monster of Nature.” The play “Entre Marta y Lope” depicts the end of Lope’s life with his beloved Marta de Nevares. The play will be presented in Spanish with projected English translations at Denison University’s Burke Hall Black Box Theatre (240 West Broadway). “Entre Marta y Lope” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2, and is free and open to the public. For more information or to reserve a seat please call or e-mail Liz Barringer-Smith at 740-587-6643 or barringerl@denison.edu or visit Denison.edu.

Full Description: The Department of Modern Languages welcomes Thomas Burman presenting "Why Wasn't Ramon Marti More Interested in Islam?" urman is Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at the University of Tennessee. Burman works on the intellectual engagement between Latin Christendom and the Islamic world, and has authored several important works including "Reading the Quran in Latin," "Christendom and Religious Polemic" and "The Intellectual History of the Mozarabs."

April 201511

Workshop: "The Integrated Approach in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language: Pedagogy and Implementation."

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Full Description: Workshop: "The Integrated Approach in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language: Pedagogy and Implementation." The workshop aims to introduce the philosophy of the Integrated Approach and demonstrates its methodology in preparing students for the realities of the Arabic diglossic situation. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Munther Younse, the Director of the Arabic Program at Cornell University and the author of the textbook series Arabiyyat al-Naas (2014), (Part One, Two and Three). The Integrated Approach to Arabic Instruction (2014), Kalila wa Dimna: For Students of Arabic (2013) and The Routledge Introduction to Qur'anic Arabic (2012). Saturday and Sunday, April 11 and 12, at Denison University. Hosted by Denison University and Kenyon College